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I'm eagerly awaiting my South Africa trip (which I leave for next week and hope to report on when I return). In the meantime, my boyfriend who is not coming on the upcoming trip wants to start considering a summer vacation destination (July most likely), and is particularly interested in two different locations:

B) Milan and Venice, maybe time spent in Lake Como or small towns in Lombardy/the Veneto

Neither of us have been to Italy or France before, and I know July is the high high highest of the tourist season besides August. I'm not usually a high season traveler - South Africa in Jan will be my first test - I'd love some feedback as we start budgeting and planning.

-Which itinerary will be less chock full of tourists? I realize both will be FULL of tourists, but if one might be less crowded and overwhelmed, we'd lean that way.

-Which is more easily executable in a short time frame? We'd probably have 9-10 nights to work with total, so we want to keep it to two locations ideally. In Italy, he's desperate to go to Milan, but I'm less interested, so we'd be willing to spend time in a third location.

-If you're recommending the Corsican option, what city would you pair with the island: Paris, Barcelona, Lyon, Marseille, etc.? At present, I'm leaning towards Paris (most flights to Corsica, capital of culture) or Barcelona (have always wanted to go there, seems like a very outdoor oriented city)

We're keen on combining relaxation and adventure, having some luxurious experiences but also looking to explore smaller, quieter areas. We're both very interested in food and wine, hiking, great scenery, and great outdoor interests.

For a combo with the least number of tourists, then Lyon/Corsica/Milan.

Maximum tourists: Venice and the lakes.

I think you will find Barcelona and Nice more crowded with tourists than Marseilles, and while Paris gets a lot of tourists, at least it is huge and so it is easy to get away from them so long as you are willing to walk away occasionally from places like the Lourve, Eiffel Tower, Notrie Dame, etc

If you do a bit of research about Corsica you should be able to figure out which spots are more low-key and not cruise-shippy.

Hey thanks, goldenautumn! We actually just started looking at Sardinia since it was so close by.

I have some concerns on ferries since it appears that could significantly eat up time on the ground in some of these places. Would you recommend overnight ferries for a Paris/Corsica/Milan itinerary or Milan/Sardinia/Corsica itinerary?

And appreciate you weighing in on the potential tourist crush too. I mean, I realize that we too will be tourists, but if we can mitigate even an iota of the overwhelming feeling of being surrounded by tourists, that will help tremendously.

I think we'd be perfectly fine to go to Paris and simply eat and stroll, and try to avoid most big time tourist attractions. (If we chose Paris, I would have to see the waterlilies at Musee de L'Orangerie though, that's non-negotiable.)

PS: I got curious and looked up ferries, and there are several ports connecting Corsica to Italy, with travel times of 4hrs or 6hrs, about 60 euros one way in high summer. All of the Italian ports (Genoa, Livorno, Savona) have fairly quick ways to get to Milan by train, under 4 hours. So depending on how much travel time you have altogether, you could have Milan + Corsica, or Milan + Corsica + one other destination with connections to Corsica by air or boat.

Those travel times from Corsica to Italy are much lower than I expected: 4-6 hours is totally doable. And 60 euros one way isn't that much more expensive than say EasyJet, and at least we'd be spared the extra time in the airport, security, etc.

And good tip on Musee Marmottan: I'd probably insist overall on a mini ode to Monet moment in Paris, but sensibly leave Giverny for another trip.

Ok looking at more options for ferries from Italy to Corsica, it looks like Livorno has the most convenient and quickest ferry to Bastia. So we could potentially spend time in Florence and make our way to Livorno before heading to Corsica.

Where would you rank Florence on the tourist crush-o-meter in July versus Paris / Milan / Marseille?

I think my next step is to figure out where we'd want to base ourselves in Corsica: with only 5-6 nights, it might be most time effective to stick to one coast or area of the island, since previous trip reports prominently mention the serpentine roads and extra driving time in peak season.

I hate to keep coming back with more thoughts/questions, but if we change the trip from July to June, is there a significant difference/drop in the number of tourists in Corsica and any of the more urban areas we'd start/end our trip in?

July would be easier to pull off, but if going earlier would significantly decrease the fighting for space and moving through crowds, then we'd make June work.

Yes, there will be a noticeable drop in tourist in Corisca in June relative to July. This is true any year, but particularly 2013 as the Tour de France will be coming to Corisca for the first time ever. If you could swing a Corsica end June and then on to Paris, beginning of July, I think you'd have a great trip in the making.